Bearing.



PATEN'LED JUNE 11, 1907 J. C. GROMWELL.

BEARING.

AIPLIUA'HON FILED JULY 1. 1905 /Ar/vE/v 70A.- (9M sda/5 Mr/vfssfs,

JOHN C- CRUIVIWIILL, OF CLEVELAND,

ourson.

O Hl t).

BEAF'HNG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1907.

Application tiled July 7,1905. Seria No. 268,613.

To all, whom it may concm'u:

Bc it known that I, JonN C. (RoMwnLL, a citizen ol' the United Statcs, and a resident ot (Jlcvcland,lcount)r of Cuyahoga, and Stato of OhioJ havo invented a new and usi-lul ,linprovcmcnt in Bearings, of which the Jfollowing is a spccification, the principle ot the. invention hcing heroin explained and thc host inode in winch l. have contemplated applying that principle, so as to distinguish it troni other invcntions.

M v invention relates to an improvement in hearings and particularly to anti-friction journal hearings which arc .not designed to sustain an axial thrust lint serve to yieldingrljfT oppose thc sidel thrust and thus to stcady the` shafts which thc)v carry, and to compensate for distortions induccd h v the operating)r mechanism. Said invinition consists of moans hereinafter fully descrihcd und specificallyY sot forth in thc claims.

The anncXcd drawing and thc following description sot forth in dctail ccrtain nicchanisni embodying thc invention, such disclosed moans constituting hut one ot' various mechanical forms in which thc principley of thc invention may he. used. Said annoxcd drawinrcprescnts a vcrtical scclional view of nrv invention7 scrving to guido thc lower cnd of the howl-shaft of a centrifugal separa tor, partial elevational and partial scctional views ot connccted )arts of a cont riingal scp arator boing also shown, and in connection therewith a vertical scctional view of a second bearing described. and claimed in a conipanion a iplication for United States Lctters Patent, berial No. 249,215, tiled March 9, 1905.

My improved hcaring is capable of usc in a great many situations, hut l shall illustrate tho invention hy reference to and description of onl)Y ono ol' such uses, that one lining in connection with ccntrii'ugal scpalators, thc adaptability ot' thc` invention to which l shall now describe in detail hy thc aid of the accompanying drawing.

Carried in the trains A of a centrifugal scp arator of any ap rovcd typo is thcA separatinghowl B, to whiclirapid rotary motion is given hy means of thc Worin-wheel (l, gearing with a shaft b of thc scparatingdiowl and with thc driving mechanism (not shownl. Y the rapid rotation of the,r howl B both it and thc` shalt b vibrate considcrahly and this is During separator is balanced to run is changed mat crially, as is thc casc in starting,- np thc niachinc.

i have provided two llcxihlc hali-lwarings for thc reception and guidance in the l'raznc A of thc twofends of thc shalt i-such iwal'v ings boing so arrangcd as to propcrhY take carcof the vihrationsot' the howl B and not in any way disturb thc paths oI travel. ot' thv halls. Thu vihrations olf thc howl aro mainljt caused li) its ninhahinced condition lwloru 'it arrives at its nornnti speed and h v thc :iriations in thc thrust lictwcen 1 hc drivingr worinwhcel and thc siindlc= causcd li) thc hand operation. Sani lloxihlc ha!l-lwarinus` coniprisc tho hearing D' lfm-:ningA thc snhjcct nun tcr of this invcntion and scrvinf; to guido the lower shaft-ptn'tionI and also thc upper hearw ing D, formingv the silhjcctniattcr ol'V thc ahovo nicntionod ci'nnpzinion applicati ng and scrving to guido thc opper shalt-Fort ion,

1n ordcr that my invcnlion may ne l`nll undcrstood and thc application of it, lit-ro with slimvn, clearly descrihcd, i havo tutti.' shown in tho drawing said upper hearing; ol thev companion application and shall horeinafter describe its construction and function.

The vibrations ot' thc howl and shalt ahovc rcl'crrcd to scrve to distort hoth ot' tho hoarings l) and D and it in)v olijcct to so ai# rango said bearings that thcjf tritt inntxndl '-i conipcnsatc for tho distmions ol nach oilnr and thus maintain ccntralimition lwlwcen the axes of thc hearings and the. scparatingbowl. i

My invention coin )rises thc lowcr hearing D' which consists o' thc two annular pars dP d, suitably carricd and relnincd in Ilm tramo as shown, and a third part Ii'ndaplcd to hc .revolved hy thc shait which thc inaring carries and here shown as an integral port ion of the lower part ot' tho shaft I), said rm'olnhlc, nionibcr b' lacing' located central j.' and sym nictrically as rcgards thc. parts di' and d", and havinggr a surface adapted to contact with the halls E carried in the tinkco-point hall-raccfornicd by theI incnilicrs d, d" and li', The. parts (Pand d torni one nlcmhcr of the lowcr )caring D', and the shaft-portion l'/ a sel-ond nicnihcr, tho parts di and d" living cnlircltT distinct i'roxn one another and capahlo of movement and adjustment relatively to cach other,` such niovclncnl and adjostmcnt Doing autoinaticall)Y controlled. as will hc hcrcinespecially truc when the speed at which thc l after explained. Said parts ci and d :donc

n i nu I OO are adapted to form a self-containing twopoint ball-race, as hereinafter explained, and are grooved to receive between them the balls E', and the inner surfaces of these grooves slope so as to form Ya two-point wedge-shaped ball-race, whichforces the balls E against the said revoluble member b and tends to center the latter. .The parts d and'd are forced apart by,` the" member b when the latter moves laterall in one direction or the other, due to the vi rations of the shaft and bowl. This relative movement of the parts d and d compresses a s ring J, suitably seated in the frame under ti'ie bearing D. The tension of this spring J, as soon as the lateral thrust of the member b is relieved, forces the parts dli and d to 'ether again, andthe slopin inner surfaces o these arts force the balls a ainst the member and tend to center t e latter as noted above. It will be noted that the arts d and d form in eflect a ball-race, whic is variable in size, depending upon the amount of thrust of the revoluble member b', which is in turn dependent upon the amount of lateral movement of the shaft b. This lower bearing D' is self-containing for the balls E even when the member b of the bearing is removed, since the retaining lips d d provided upon the parts d d, res actively, prevent the escape of the balls rom the two-point ballraoe. This feature is especially serviceable when the separator is dismantled for cleansin and other purposes.

he lower bearing D forming the sub'ectmatter of this invention, carries none o the weight of the bowl and shaft but serves only to steady the latter and to compensate for the distortions of the upper bearing D, form'- ing the subject-matter ofthe above-named companion application, which will now be described.

This upper ball-bearing D comprises an upper annular sleeve-like memberd surrounding the shaft b, to which it is revolubly fixed, and having a spherical or convex surface d adapted to contact with the balls E supported m a race formedin a lower mem er d', which will now be described in detail. This member d is an annular rin carried by means of a flange dn upon a gui ing and supporting shoulder a of the frame A, over which shoulder said bearing is adapted to oscillate. Considerable lateral play is allowed to the member d' upon the shoulder a as will be clearly seen from the drawing, so that the shaft and bearing may accommodate themselves to all swayings andvibrations induced in the separating-bowl b the o eration of the machine. The flange and s oulder a are provided with juxta osed complementary curved surfaces forme into parts of the surface of the sphere of which the shaft) or to be precisely exact,'so much of the shaft as lies below the shoulder a, is a sesame radius, so thatas the bowl and shaft move laterally the flange da oscillates in this arc over the shoulder a, and there is very little friction between it and said shoulder. In order that the oscillation of the member fl', reinforced as it is by the weight of the bowl B, may not react upon the frame A, a compensatingfresilient spring F, shown in the drawing as .an annular corrugated springsteel rin ,is interposed between said member d and t e frame, and acts as a cushion or buffer between the same, taking up the movements of the member d' without communicating the same to the frame.

This up er bearing D is self-containinfr for the balls even when the member d o? the bearing is removed, since the lower member d of the bearing is provided with a retaining.'I li d' which, in co-operation with a removable annular ring G adapted to form a second retaining lip, ho ds the balls in place and provents the escape of the same from their ballrace. Itis obvious that many suitable equivalents of the retaining ring G, such as removable plugs riveted into the lower member fl', mi ht be provided whichwould co-o crate wit the lip d" to render said member selfcontaining for the balls. As noted above in connection with the retaining lips d d of the lower bearin D', this feature is especially serviceable w en the separator is dismantled for cleansing and other urposes` ,A pin H screwed in tirough the frame A from the outside engages a suitable notch d* in the flange d and prevents the member d from rotating upon the shoulder c. The balls E are prevented from climbing by the annular ring G, as clearly indicated in the drawing.

It is obvious that in adaptations of the bearing D to uses other than that 'of utilizing it in a centrifugal separator, suitable equivalents of the shoulder a, over which said bearing D oscillates, may be provided, said shoulder bein shown in'the drawin as an integral art of t eseparator frame. t will be noted hat this ball-bearing D carries all the weight of the rotating parts and sustains all the axial thrust, whereas the lower bearing D', ferming the subject-matter of this invention, serves to yieldin ly oppose the side thrust and to guide the ower shaft-portion and to compensate for the lateral movements of the up r bearing D as noted above.

aving described my invention in detail, that which I particularly point out and distinctl claim is:

1. n combination a journal and two indendent members forming a ball race, balls 1n said race, said members being adapted to be moved away from each other by lateral pressure of the journal.

2. In combination a journal and two indendent members forming a ball race, balls in said race, said members being adapted to IOO be moved away from each other by lateral pressure of the journal and means tending to oppose suoli movement. i

In combination a journal and two independent members forming a ball race, one of said members being movable toward and away from the other member, balls disposed in said ra'ce, the race being so constructed that lateral pressure of the Journal will cause the balls to separate the said members.

4. In combination a journal and two members forming a ball race, one of said members being movable to and from the other, balls in said race, the race faces of said members being so shaped that movement of one toward 15 the other tends to thrust the balls against the journal and yielding means tending to cause one of said m'embers to a preach the other Signed by me this 1st ay of July 1905.

`JOHN C. CROMWELL.

Attested b JNO. OnsnLIN, G. W..SAWELL. 

